Draft season is upon us ladies and gentlemen! With the NFL Draft less than a month away, I thought it would be a good time to drop a full 7 round mock; with trades! But this year, I wanted to do it a bit differently. Instead of your basic 7 round mock where you scroll through pages of picks and find your team’s selections with relatively no commentary, I decided to break the mock up and do an article on each individual team’s haul! Giving you a breakdown of what each team brought in and how I think it could help. So without further adieu, let’s kick things off!
With the 16th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals select…
- Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech(1st round)
- Javonte Williams, RB, North Carolina(2nd round)
- Ambry Thomas, CB, Michigan(5th round)
- Reed Blankenship, S, Middle Tennessee(6th round)
- Harry Crider, OL, Indiana(7th round)
- Antonio Nunn, WR, Buffalo(7th round)
The Cardinals are a team that was very active during the offseason. Between their signings and trades, they addressed a ton of areas of need and added a ton of talent to help them compete right away.
With their first pick, the Cardinals see Caleb Farley fall right into their lap. Farley has some injury concerns which is why he may fall in the draft, but the Cardinals jump at the chance to replace Patrick Peterson with another shutdown corner. Without the injuries, Farley may be considered the top corner in the draft and will be a huge help trying to stop some of the talented receivers in their division. They also add Ambry Thomas and Reed Blankenship that can help with depth and have the upside to be a full-time starter.
On offense, the Cardinals fill their RB need with one of the top backs in the draft; Javonte Williams. Williams quickly rose up the ranks this season and is an excellent all-around back. Williams has the ability to be the workhorse back for this team and could take over sooner rather than later. Late in the draft, they also added Harry Crider to their offensive line and Antonio Nunn to their WR room. Both players will provide good depth to their team and can make some starts in a pinch.
Overall, I love what the Cardinals have done this offseason when you combine their free-agent signings, trades, and draft picks. Adding Farley and Williams is huge as both players can be high-end starters right away. With the talent they have, the Cardinals should be able to compete for the division as soon as this season.
